THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Two flocks of sheep shared the same pen at night. Early in the morning one of the shepherds opened the pen, and cried out ‘Marah’ which is the Arabic for ‘follow me”, and all of his sheep left the pen and followed him.

Another man, watching this, was fascinated so he borrowed the other shepherd’s cloak and staff, and cried out “Marah” – and none of the sheep paid the slightest heed to him! He asked the shepherd if any of the sheep would ever follow someone else rather than him. ‘Yes,’ said the shepherd. “Sometimes a sheep can be so sick that it will follow anyone!”

-                            “I am the good shepherd; I know mine, and mine know me. They will heed my voice”.

-                            Seldom have I seen a young person get into trouble without having being led their by someone else. Surely we must accept that the opposite is always true. Therefore we all have an obligation to give leadership.

JUDGING!

JUDGING!

One day a partially deaf lad was given a note form his teacher to give his mother, suggesting that she take him out of school, because he was too stupid to learn. The mother’s reaction was to it, and begins teaching him herself. The boy grew up, and Thomas Edison, for that was his name, left a wealth of inventions that leaves us all deeply in his debt.

He invented the motion picture, the record player and the light bulb. When he died, the US as a nation switched off all electric lights for one minute in his memory, at a time decided on the national level.

Dear friends, how wrong we can be in our judgments about the other person.  Our rash judgments can be totally wrong as the teacher in the above story. We need to learn form Edison and his mother to look at the events form the optimistic point of view. Both never gave up though Edison was seen as a stupid boy in the class. He knew his resources and tapped it well, so we too have got that ability so let’s find out our resources and channel it on the right path.

-                            Herb Barks wrote: “God don’t make no junk!” How often do people find themselves on the scrap heaps of life through the rejection of others?

QUOTES

QUOTES

1. He who asks is a food for 5 minutes but he who does not ask remains fool for ever.

2. Love enters a man through his eyes, woman through her ears.

3. Friends are like fiddle strings, they must not be screwed too tight.

4. Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will  come.

5. Rereading a good book is like seeing an absent friend once again.

-Carlos Martinez Vazquez

6. Failure is when you stop trying. You have to keep trying till the last ball is bowled and you have to ensure that it doesn't exist in your book.

- Geroge Abraham

7. The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.

- Joseph Joubert

8. At times it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people wonder if your are a fool thne to open it and remove all their doubts.                                - James Sinclair

9. Millions said the apple fell but Newton was the one to ask why?

-Bernard M. Baruch

10. Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan. 

ARE YOU JESUS?

ARE YOU JESUS?

One day a religion teacher began a class on Jesus by saying to some young children:

“Today I must tell you about someone whom you all must meet. He’s a person who loves you and cares for you, even more than your own family and friends. He’s a person who’s kinder than the kindest person you know. He’s a person who forgives you, no matter how often you do wrong. No matter what you wrong, he is always ready to accept you to love you and to understand.

The teacher noticed a little boy getting more and more excited as he talked. Suddenly the little boy could hold back no longer. He blurted out, ‘I know the man you’re talking about. He lives on our street.”

Dear friends do our neighbours, youth, children see us like Jesus? We are children of Christ and one way of our living suppose to be the way of Christ. Do people see me as a bearer of Christ in my dealing, talking and action?

v    To be a Christian is to be someone who shows others, in practice some of what Jesus is like. 

v    It is important to Jesus that others recognize us a belonging to him. “By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another.” (Jn 13:35)

v    You shall be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.

WHY NO CHANGE?

WHY NO CHANGE?

Mike was a Christian, and his pal Joe, an atheist. Joe lost no opportunity to have a ‘go’ at Mike about what he saw as the irrelevance of Christianity.

One day they were out for a walk when they came across a gang of ‘toughies’, who were fighting and swearing. Joe pointed to the scene, and said, “Look Mike, it’s been 2000 years since Jesus came into the world, and it’s still filled with aggression and violence.” Mike said nothing.

Five minutes later they came upon a group of dirty faced children. Now it was Mike’s turn. He pointed to the kids and said to Joe, “Look Joe it’s over 2000 years since soap was first discovered, and yet the world’s still filled with dirty faces.”

v    Nothing happens until you use the soap!

v    There is nothing automatic about Jesus or his message. It’s like discovering a cure for cancer. Nothing happens until the patient takes the medicine.

SHARING OUR FOOD

 

SHARING OUR FOOD

There is a legend told about Abraham in the Mid-east. According to the legend he always held off, eating his breakfast each morning until a hungry person came along to share it with him.

One day an old man came along and of course Abraham invited to share his breakfast with him. However, when Abraham heard the old man say a pagan blessing over his food, he jumped up, and ordered the man to get out from the table, and form his house.

Almost immediately, God spoke to Abraham, “Abraham, Abraham! I have been supplying that unbeliever with food everyday for the past eighty years. Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?”

There is a saying about sharing our food with strangers, and unknown to ourselves, actually entertaining angels.

Hey! We do behave at times like Abraham. When we think that we are better than others we do not take their feelings and their views into account. At times we behave that we are holy and perfect among our companions. And the little mistake they make becomes the joke of the day. We like Abraham do lot of good things and charity but can’t bear up the old pagan man or our companions who do not go according to our thought pattern. Are we ready to share our life, time, knowledge and material objects with the person we do not like much?

v    Even a cup of cold water shared with another will not go unrewarded (Mt 10:42)

v    Jesus has strong words to say about those who only love or share with those who are friend, or with those who can give in return (Mt 5:47)

SAINT 

OR 

?

This story is told about Leonardo da Vinci, when he was painting “The Lord’s Supper,” He chose an attractive young man called Pietri Bandinelli to be his model for Jesus in the painting.

The complete work took several years to finish. The final character was Judas, and Leonardo went into the slums, and all of the “dives” in town looking for someone who would serve as a model for Judas. He was looking for someone who would clearly stand out as such in any gathering.

He found the perfect man, one who was depraved and vicious looking. Later as he was painting, Leonardo sensed there was something familiar about the man, and he asked him if they had ever met before. “Yes, w have,” replied the man, “but much has happened in my life since than.” He said his name was Bandinelli, that it was he who was the model for Jesus some time before.

Dear friends whom do you want to be? Life is full of surprises and it was so in the case of Leonardo. The man who was model for Jesus turned out to be a model for Judas too. Time and circumstances changes one’s life but ultimately it is the inner conscience and one’s decision that enables one to be either Jesus or Judas. So whom do you want to be?

v    It is important, more important. To remember that the reverse could equally be true – the Judas of yesterday could be the Jesus of today.

v    After all, a saint is a sinner whom Jesus saved and sanctified.